Friday!

So here is a funny little story. Sunday: Our Branch President tells us we can go to the temple three times this week. Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Monday: We went to the temple and hoped that we would be blessed for our service by having our names called for the travel office so we could get our visas. Tuesday: We got back from lunch and found that Elder Kenczka (another elder in my district) and I were called to the office.... to get our visas on Wednesday. Wednesday: We went on got our visas. Shortly after, we were told that we are leaving on Friday.

 

I leave Friday morning. Not much notice. I am out of here. One day to pack and then I'm gone to Mexico. I was actually kind of nervous and a little scared when I heard that. I was very ready for another week here in the MTC. Elder Brown and Elder Lockwood will be staying for a little while longer. I don't know how much longer. I half freaked out when I heard that it would be so soon. I couldn't stop laughing and how ridiculous it was. It just hadn't sunk in. As it did sink in, I began to feel fear. "Am I ready? Should I really go? Is there any way out? Can I really be doing this?" To my questions, I got one answer. "Yes. The Lord is with you and His angels round about you. The Holy Spirit is your constant companion and will not allow you to fall so long as you stay righteous."

 

Notice that it said "righteous" and not "perfect". Alma 9:28. It is a wonderful scripture. To me it gives a deeper understanding of what is expected out of me. God does not expect us to be perfect. It is not possible for us to be. He knows that. But we can try. We can be righteous and do all we can to strive for perfection through Christ. That is why we are here.

 

In the temple on monday, the thoughts came to me, "Strive here on earth to be the best you can be. Strive always for growth in the Lord. Create with every opportunity you have. The character that you have now, the personality, will not change at death." Our bodies will become perfect, but we will keep our knowledge. We will keep our love. Our sins will be washed away if our actions and our desires are directed towards the blessing of the atonement. That is my purpose in life. To strive with every action and thought to be more perfect than i was the moment before. This is very ambitious I know and I will faulter, but such is life. Such is mankind. And such is our Savior able to save us.

 

I was scared. I repented. Fear began to drive me away from the work of Christ. In a moment of weakness I began to move away from Him. I repented. I was blessed to feel the Spirit and He did comfort me and gave me courage. He brought peace to my mind and my racing heart. I don't know what will happen after Friday. I don't know who I will meet or what I will say. But God does. I am in His service. I will do as he commands and I will strive to keep fear from my heart and mind. I will trust Him because I have been promised all the He has if I will remain faithfull and endure to the end. So I will. I love you all. I hope that you can all share this goal and constantly move towards eternal life. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

SO..... Here's the info on my leaving the country. I am just waiting for the Spanish consulate to meet again and say that they are ready for more missionaries to come and get their visas. We have no idea how long that will be till they are ready so I could be here for another two weeks or so. Or I could be leaving next week. I have no idea. The MTC has no idea. It's just a waiting game.

 

 

Until then, my companions and I realized something today. Today marks our 63 days here in the MTC. 9 weeks. Thats kind of a long time. It does NOT feel like it has been that long at all. I love it here and it's great, but i gotta get out to the field. I know that I will mess up with my Spanish as it is but that's ok. I can teach and I hold a decent conversation. I know that I have this gift of language only through the power of el Espíritu Santo. Estoy listo a servir mi Padre en cielo. Estoy mui animado a enseñar las personas en Puebla. Im not the best at spelling in Spanish because of the accents, but I love speaking the language. 

 

 

I hope the visas go through soon. I'm praying constantly. Everytime the intercom calls for someone, I perk up and pray they call my name. Of course, they don't. But that is just fine. Yo sé que todos cosas in mi vida son en los manos de Jesucristo. So I will try my patience. I will be humbled. I will become a better missionary so that I am ready when I DO get to field. I say it everyday and it is as true now as it was when I first said, "I love this church. I love this gospel. I love my Father in Heaven. I love my savior Jesus Christ. I am so greatful for everything I have in this life, including my life, because i would have absolutely nothing if it weren't for Their love for me and my family."

 

 

I can't even begin to completely express myself in words, but is the wonderful thing of a loving Heavenly Father. He knows how I feel. I try my best to express in words but it simply is not enough. He knows that. I know that He appreciates my attempts though, in trying to put them in words. We can't do everything in this life to become like Him and His Son, He knows that. It's when we do all that we can that helps us and pushes us the rest of the way. This leads into my subject of discussion for the Tuesday devotional.

 

 

We heard from Elder Gong and his wife on Tuesday night. It was a great talk and one that I think we all need at LEAST once in our lives. It was about the difference between being perfectionists and being perfected in Christ. Being a perfectionist is one that looks inward and dwells on faults and mistakes. It is a demoralizing way of living. It tears down the confidence of the person and allows Satan to enter and rip you apart from the inside out. Perfected in Christ, however, is the exact opposite. It is looking outward. Looking to a source of healp when you have done all that you can do. God does not expect us to be perfect right now. It is impossible to be. We must repent every night for something. But in that repentance, and in keeping to laws and commandments of God with all the desire of our heart, He can and will make us perfect through His Son Jesus Christ, our savior and redeemer. Don't look inward for your faults. You may lose your good traits to your bad ones. If you would only look to the scource of all light and do everything you can to leave behind your mistakes, they will disappear. It is hard because of the pride of men. I am only just now coming to a realization of these things and begin now to live by them. I invite you all to do the same. We aren't perfect. But He is. Let Him help you. Trust Him and love Him enough to access the power of the atonement. I love you all. Please do this with me. I hope that this will bring you closer to Christ. I know it will bring me closer. Pray always. Give glory to God. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

 

 

This has been a radio broadcast from the MTC. Elder Heath signing out.

A Look Into My Day

I will cover some things requested that I discuss. And so my day goes like this...(and then I"ll write the good stuff!)

I wake up in the morning before 6:30. I hop into the shower and out in 5 min. I get dressed, I make my bed and shave.  I then go to the class at 7:00 with my companion and we have personal study time for an hour where simply study to our hearts content the wonderfulness of the gospel.

Then we go to breakfast at 8:15. Breakfast is good. We then return to the class room where we have a teacher. Harmano McAllister is in the mornings now. Class for 3 hours and then either gym or M.D.T. (missionary directed time) which is our choice of what we do. Being the good missionary I am and my companion also, we usually study the language or work on prepping for our next teaching opportunity.

In gym I play four-square. No it is not the kid's game you think. The ball moves fast, low and hard. Just try to stay in for a solid 5 min. Entonces... Then we have lunch.  The food here is pretty good all around. There are some meals that are just..... no. But most are great. After lunch is either gym or more M.D.T. till dinner.  After dinner we have another 2 hours of class.  Last semester we had a LOT more class.  I need time to write the good stuff.

So last night we had the AWESOME opportunity to hear from Elder Holland for the second time during my stay hear in the MTC!!! IT WAS SO AWESOME!!!! He speaks with so much passion. I can feel every work is directed towards letting us know that he wants the best for us. Not only for the church because that is imporant, but for for ourselves as individuals. He loves us and wants this experience to be as life changing as his mission was for him.

He spoke last night on the different missionaries that have gone out in the past years of the church. "You are the hope of Israel. And you are only 19. Be the best you can be because there is no going back. Never go back." Or something to that effect. He then went into the story of Peter the apostle returning himself and the others to fishing after the death of Christ. It was all he could think to do. He did not understand that when Christ asked him to leacve his nets it was forever. That when Christ asked him to throw away his paddles it was forever. That his mission was not just during the Saviors life with him, but forever. Upon Christ's return, He asked peter 3 times, "Do you love me?" to which peter replied each time, "Thou knowest I love you." It was not until that last reply that he was converted. He then became the mighty apostle that people would sleep in the streets for in the hope that his shadow would pass over them. My mission is forever. I will never go back. I love Him.

I love you all!!!
Until next time!!! Elder Heath, Out.

Just waiting....

Just waiting for my travel plans.... they should come this week!!!! I will either be going to Mexico on the 17th or I will be reassigned to a stateside mission until my visa goes through. I am so excited!!! 12 more days!!!!

Life is good. Language is going well. The gospel is so fantastic. I love it! My companions are even better every day. We are growing and it's amazing. I can't really imagine how life was before the MTC. It's not a matter of brainwashing or anything like that, it is simply that life is so great here. It will be interesting to leave and be introduced back into the real world. Of course, it won't be MY world. It will be some obscure place that I have been to. But I know that it will be a wonderful place. I know that I will have a work to do there and I will give it my all. Whether it is in Mexico or in the states somewhere it doesn’t matter. I will have purpose.

As it goes here, we had another fabulous speaker for the Tuesday night fireside. His name, Elder Baxter. He and his wife are from the U.K. Hilarious!! He spoke on the proof in the Bible  that the Book of Mormon is the word of God. And how we are in fact Christians because "No person with a shred of sanity can look at this church and actually believe that we are not Christian. Everything we do in prayer, in church, in sacrament and in teaching from the writings of the holy prophets roots us in the label of "Christian". What sets us apart is that we do not believe in the "Trinity" which is of course the godhead in one personage. We are correct in the fact that They are in fact 3 distinct personages. When Christ was baptized, He "...came straight way out of the water" and the heavens opened. Heavenly Father then spoke to the effect but maybe not exactly, "Behold, this is my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Spirit then manifested Himself in the form of a dove. If this was one being doing all these things, then that being has multiple personalities. Thus those people with that condition would be as gods and no therapy would be needed. I know that we have a loving Father in heaven. I know that He sent His son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and take upon Him our pains and afflictions. I know that the Holy Ghost is a member of the Godhead and is our constant companion as long as we live worthy of His presence and His guidance. I know that these three distinct individuals are one in purpose. And that purpose is for us to return to the presence of our Father in heaven. I know these things and I say them to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

This has been Elder Heath wishing you all a great new year! Write ME!!!!!!

Christmas in the MTC

SO! I had a fantastic Christmas in the MTC! We had a devotional Christmas Eve and then they put on Mr. Kruger's Christmas for us. Then for Christmas we opened our presents, skipped breakfast to eat the food we had been sent, went to a talent show that was AWESOME!!!! (the Russians did a "You a Missionary Now" song to the tune of Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance". HILARIOUS!!!!!!) Then we had another devotional in which Elder Nelson spoke!!!! OH MY GOSH IT WAS SO GREAT!!!! He spoke about Jesus and His mission. Not only His time here on earth but also his role in our lives before this world and after this world. I found that there is so much that I take for granted. I will do my best to have Christ in my thoughts every day. It is so critical in order for us to become like him and to glorify our Father in heaven.

 

     Lunch was when they made our "Christmas Dinner". It was really good.

 

     We then had a fireside in which a volunteer and a newly called mission president read and partly acted Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol". They were SO good! I enjoyed it very much. The President Smith (the MTC president) talked about the connection of Charles Dickens with la Iglesia de Jesucristo de los santos de los ultimos dias. Charles Dickens published the first compliment to the LDS church. He said that the Saints are the most wholesome and honest people in the world. Or something to that effect at least. But the funny thing is that he said that after traveling with the members that were leaving England to come to America and he was trying to find all the bad and bash them. Instead he found the truth. Mwahaha!!! I love those stories!

 

    Sunday morning we had the privilege of hearing from Elder Nelson again. FANTASTIC!!!! From there is was a normal sunday, then monday, tuesday and today is.... unfinished. But it is turning into a great day as well. Rarely do I actually have a bad day. I love the snow. Utah is great when it comes to snow.

 

    Ok. So here is my piece of wisdom for the week. When you talk to someone about the Church or if someone is talking to you, the objective is not to invite people to join a church. The purpose is to invite others to come unto Christ. To connect/reconnect them with the Spirtit. After that, it's all on them and their faith. Faith being an action. An action in trusting the Lord and doing those things in your life that help you understand His plan and love for you. Invite. The worst someone can do is say no. And that only hurts you because they are your brothers and sisters. Invite so they have the opportunity to say Yes. They said it once before because they are here. Help them remember. Help them connect/reconnect with the Spirit. Help them come unto Christ. I love you all. I want you to do this as well. Come unto Christ. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 

     This has been Elder Heath. Signing out.